How Much is that Coat?
by RPkira
Summary: Aang and Katara visit the market place where Katara sees a coat she likes and Aang is determined to get it for her, and he'll do what ever it takes.
1. The Coat

**A/N: This is after the first season finale. Sokka, Aang, and Katara are all resting in the Northern water tribe nationwhen Katara thinks it's a good idea to go to a market.**

Disclamer: I don't own A:TLA

"Hey Sokka we're going to the festival, do you want to come with us?" Katara asked. Sokka lifted his head up from his bed to look up at Katara and Aang.

"No," he managed to sigh out before he resolutely glued his head back to his pillow, trying to fall asleep "And why not?" Katara demanded with her hand on her hips.

"You're not still heartbroken, are you?" asked Aang.

"Just leave me alone," Sokka answered with a groan.

"Okay, bye," said Aang, who was eager to go shopping with Katara.

"We'll be back soon," sighed Katara still looking a little concerned.

---

"Oh- look at this!" Aang exclaimed as he picked up a blue bottle of perfume that was sitting on a display with several other little bottles of perfume. Katara picked it up and smelled it.

"Mmm it smells good, how much is it?"

"270 gold coins and 50 silvers," said a young man, who Katara had just noticed sitting behind the perfume display.

"That's a bit overpriced isn't it?" Katara asked with a frown.

"It's imported from the finest perfume makers in the world," the man said.

"Oh well, we don't have that much. Come on Aang," Katara took Aang's hand and started walking away from the booth. Aang blushed slightly.

"Some of these vendors are trying to rip people off for their money," said Katara disapprovingly.

"But he did say they were from the finest perfume makers in the world," Aang pointed out.

"That's way too much for perfume anyway, imported or not," said Katara. After a few seconds of walking, a booth that was slightly bigger than the rest caught Katara's eye. It had kites and wind catchers presented on the outside and on the inside hung a myriad of colorful clothes.

"I've been meaning to get a new coat, this one is getting a little too tight," said Katara indicating the coat she had on. She walked up to the booth with Aang.

"That one is beautiful," said Katara as she admired the detail and design on the sleeves and collar of a coat hanging on the right side of the booth.

"Do you want it?" asked Aang.

"Well it would be nice to have it instead of the one I have now," said Katara.

"How much is that coat?" Aang asked the man in the booth as he pointed to the coat Katara said she liked.

"200 gold coins," the man replied. Shock covered Aang's face. Then, determination overtook him.

_It would definitely make Katara like me even more if I get that coat for her, _he thought.

"How about 10 bronze coins, some grapes, and a red whistle?" Aang asked persuasively as he pulled out grapes from his bag and smiled as affably as he could.

"HA HA HA HA HA! You think I'll sell this beautiful valuable coat to you for 10 bronze coins? You must out of your mind! Get out of here kids; I have costumers that are actually able to buy things from me. Go on, I think Mr. Jorour over there is selling toys you can afford,"

"Come on Aang lets go," Katara said placidly, " I don't need that coat anyway I just think it's really nice. Thanks for trying to get it for me anyway."

Aang stood still for a moment and said "Go on without me, Katara."

"You're never going to be able to afford it, Aang, and we need to buy some food with that money, so let's go," said Katara, trying to cajole Aang to follow her.

"No, I'll just meet you in a few minutes, alright? You can shop without me," Aang replied, handing Katara the money.

"Fine but just a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay," Aang agreed, turning around to once again face the man in the booth. He had no idea how he was going to even begin to try getting the coat.


	2. Bono Bono

**Yay chapter two!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own avatar**

"I'll do anything at all for that coat, please, anything you want," Aang said the first thing that he could think of as soon as he heard Katara's footsteps die out. Then, suddenly he thought of a great idea. "I'll give you a ride on my giant flying bison!" _After all, how many people have ever gotten a chance to ride a giant bison?_ Aang thought with a grin, _I'm sure this guy never did._

"Giant flying bison? Yeah right! You don't have a giant flying bison," said the man.

"Yes I do! I'll show you," said Aang, but then he realized that it woul probably be a bad idea to bring Appa into the festival.

"Nah, forget it. I don't have time for that," he decided and once again, Aang stood facing the man in the booth- the only thing between him and the coat he wanted to get for Katara- trying to think of anything at all he could do that was worth the same as the coat.

"I'll do your chores for you," said Aang, though he had already predicted what the man was going to say.

"When are you gonna give up, kid?" the man in the booth said. Aang sighed. This was beginning to feel hopeless, and he was starting to get annoyed with the man calling him 'kid'. The avatar had started to turn around in defeat when another wave of determination swept through his body. _I'll just ask one more time, just once more_, he thought.

"Sir, I just need this coat, more than you think, so if there's anything-" Aang stopped suddenly; he could see an idea had popped into the man's head, and he was right.

"Okay, kid, there is one way I'll give you this coat for free," Aang smile triumphantly. _Katara would love me for this, I'm sure! _

"Really? I'll do anything," said Aang.

"You, see my granddaughter, Darmi, has an almost-incurable illness. The healers have managed to keep her alive over the past month, but no one knows how much longer she can survive like that. They don't think they can keep her alive for much longer. "There is a way to cure her though. All she needs is a leaf from the bono-bono plant; it's the only way. The healers can use it to make her medication. The plant is very rare, though, and I've searched everywhere for one ever since the day she got sick. Well, that is, when I'm not here selling things. I can't travel anywhere now that her condition is so bad. I have to pay the healers and this booth is my only way of earning money, so I can't leave it very often, but I've never even found a trace of the plant" Aang stood still quietly as he listened to the man.

"I can get it for you," Aang quickly said without thinking.

"I doubt you, can, so I won't get my hopes up, but I can tell you this much. The bono-bono plant is found in warm temperatures, so it is mostly found in the south. That's all I know about it, " said the man.

"Oh," said Aang. _I have to get this plant not only for the coat, but for Darmi, as well._

"I'll get it! After all I am the Avatar" said Aang boasted, though inside he wasn't as confident as he seemed.

"The Avatar? You? Kid, that's ridiculous, the avatar hasn't been seen for over 100 years!"

"My name's not kid, it's Aang!" he exclaimed then sighed. "I got frozen in an iceberg a hundred years ago, then a couple of people found me in it and they saved me," Aang was tired of telling everyone who didn't believe he was really the avatar this story.

"Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Avatar," said the man "You can call me Mr. Zahare,"

"Don't worry about that bono-bono plant, Mr. Zahare, I'm going to get it for you!"


	3. The Search Begins

**Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.**

Ch. 3- Edited

_Where did Katara go? _Aang wondered, as he started running around to find her. He searched for her face in a big crowd of people that were all wearing colors similar to her- blue. After a few minutes of looking he finally recognized her looking at puppets at a booth that was being run by two old-looking women.

She was carrying a bag of fruit and nuts.

"Katara! Katara!" Aang yelled trying to get the attention of his friend. Katara turned around to face him as Aang raced to her side.

"Aang! What happened back there?" Katara asked.

"The Bono-bono plant," said Aang trying to catch his breath. One of the old-looking women watched Aang curiously.

"Do you know anything about it?" asked Aang.

"No," said Katara slowly. "Why do you want to know about the Bono-bono plant?" she asked inquisitively.

"Because there's a girl who's sick, and the only way she can be cured is if she gets a leaf of the Bono-bono plant. Her grandfather can't find it anywhere. She'll die if we don't get it for her," said Aang.

"Oh," said Katara, "but why do we have to get it for her? Isn't there someone who-"

"It's rare, and it doesn't grow around here. Her grandfather can't find it, and he's restricted to his booth to make money so he can pay the healers for keeping her alive," Aang explained "Do you know where there are any apothecaries around here?"

"No, but why would you go there? You said her grandfather couldn't find it anywhere, don't you think he would have looked there?" asked Katara.

"We have to start somewhere, and besides they might know something about the plant!" Aang stared at one of the puppets displayed at the booth next to him.

"I did pass a small booth that was selling medical plants,"

"We could look there!" the avatar exclaimed.

"It was this way," said Katara as she led Aang to the booth. "So is that man going to do anything for you for getting that plant for him?" asked Katara. Aang wondered if he should tell her that besides helping Darmi, he would get the coat for her; all though he did want to keep it to himself so that he could surprise her.

"Probably, I mean, since I'm going to save his granddaughter,"

"Do you know her name?" inquired Katara.

"Yeah, it's Darmi," said Aang, who had just realized he had forgotten to tell Katara that. Then, he spotted the booth Katara was leading him too. He immediately quickened his pace and approached the woman in the booth. She was talking to a short man who was holding a moneybag.

"Hi I'm Aang," he said to the woman after the short man left the booth. "You wouldn't happen to have any Bono-bono plant laying around, would you?" Aang asked.

"Sorry, Aang, I don't have any Bono-bono plant. In fact, I haven't ever seen one of those. I have heard stories of their magical curing abilities, though,"

Aang looked disappointed even though he knew she wouldn't have any. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Ah, yes I do. The Bono-bono plant characteristically has four large leaves on one stem, and they are a dark green in color. Their flowers are orange, and they are the majority of them are found in the south," said the lady. "Ms. Shauna, the woman in charge of the apothecary I work at, certainly knows more about it than I do. She's a plant specialist. Why don't you try asking her for more information?"

"That's a great idea," said Aang. "Where is the apothecary you work at?"

"It's- uh, well over by-" the woman struggled as she tried to explain to the avatar where the apothecary was. "Oh! Well it's around that area where the girls learn how to heal with water. Do you know where that is?" Aang tried to remember if he had ever seen where the girls learned how to heal.

"I know where it is," said Katara, speaking to the woman for the first time.

"Excellent. You should be able to find the apothecary. It's right around there.

"Thanks for all your help ma'am," said Aang "We're going to go now, Bye!" and he turned around and left the booth with Katara right behind him.

"Good luck!" the woman in the booth shouted to Aang.

"Let's go see Sokka first," said Katara. I have to put these bags down and I want to see if Sokka would like to come with us."

"Okay," said Aang.

---

"We're back, Sokka!" Katara said as she entered the tent they were staying in. Sokka was still laying in his cot and it looked as if he hadn't moved an inch.

"You're not _still _depressed are you?" Aang joked. Sokka finally lifted his head.

"I'm not depressed!… I'm just really tired," said Sokka as he stood up to examine what Katara and Aang brought.

"Aang and I are going to the apothecary, do you wanna come with us?" Katara asked him.

"Why are you going there? Who's sick?" asked Sokka. Katara explained about Darmi and the Bono-bono plant.

"I don't think you should go looking for the plant, you're probably never going to find it," said Sokka apathetically.

"Come on Sokka, we'll just be there for a few minutes its not healthy for you to stay here all day," said Katara. Sokka sighed.

"If it makes you happy, okay," said Sokka, not in the mood to argue. He took his boomerang and started walking towards the exit of the tent. Katara and Aang followed right behind him.

**A/N: I love reviews!**


	4. Apothecary

**I think my chapters are getting longer and longer  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the last airbender  
**

**Chapter 4**

"Appa, yip yip!" Aang exclaimed. The giant bison lifted into the sky above and Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Momo headed in the direction of the old apothecary.

"One question…" said Sokka, "why do we have to look for the Bono-bono plant? If I needed a Bono-bono plant who would go looking for it for me?" Sokka forcefully clapped his hands to his chest and demanding and explanation to Aang's sudden need to help a girl none of them knew.

"We have to try. There's no one else that can help her." said Aang. Sokka groaned and leaned back against Appa's saddle with his arms crossed, sternly looking at Aang. Aang was unusually quiet. He focused his energy on directing Appa.

"Miss Shauna?" Aang asked a young woman who had her back turned, when he entered the room. The lady turned around and shook her head. Then she pointed to an older woman who Aang had not noticed earlier. "Oh, thanks," said Aang calmly.

Before Aang could say anything Miss Shauna said cheerfully "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, we're looking for a… Bono-bono plant." Miss Shauna's smile faded.

"That's a very rare plant. I'm sorry, but it isn't available here," she said, shaking her head slightly.

"Oh," Aang sulked.

"Do you know anything about it?" Katara asked her, eager to hear more about the mysterious plan. The woman lowered her head and put her hand on her forehead.

"My memory has been failing me lately," she replied before pausing. "I can't remember anything about it." She shook her head. Sokka groaned quietly, only Katara heard him.

Aang had no idea what to do next. This is a dead-end he thought, finally realizing the impossibility of locating the plant. "Wait." Miss Shauna said to the group. "I believe someone still tends that old apothecary at the edge of the village."

"What apothecary?" Aang questioned, suddenly energetic.

"You mean you don't know the story?" said Miss Shauna. Aang shook his head in confusion. "A couple decades back a great wave from the sea swept through almost half of the old village. The parts of the village it hit were destroyed, including the apothecary. The healers tried restoring it, but after people started moving away from the coast, they built this one so people wouldn't have to travel as far." Miss Shauna paused. "If my memory is correct we did grow the Bono-bono plant there. I cannot guarantee that it's still grown there though."

"We should try looking there." Aang said to whoever was listening. Katara nodded, and Sokka looked like he was in a slightly better mood for some reason.

After getting specific directions, they boarded Appa again and flew towards the old abandoned part of the water nation. It wasn't very far seeing as they were already near it.

The abandoned part of the nation had a creepy quality of lifelessness. As Ms. Shauna had said, the homes were ruined. They were destroyed so completely, in fact, that it was difficult to distinguish the homes from the shops, and if you didn't look close enough you couldn't even tell the locality used to be occupied. Through the wreckage though, the apothecary clearly stood out like a bright red flower growing out of fresh snow. It was re-established and looked as if the "devastating wave" never affected it. The structure seemed to give off a peculiar sense of satisfaction.

The trio walked into the apothecary but they didn't see anyone. They noted that the air smelled like fresh earth as they quietly ambled through the aisles of plants and shelves of old cures and remedies. Then Sokka accidentally kicked a small yellow ball that had been sitting on the floor. "Jay you're supposed to be taking your nap now," said an old woman's voice caringly. Aang tried looking for the lady's voice but she sounded as if she were pretty far away. The building was enormous for an apothecary. "Jay?" the voice got closer, and then Aang saw the lady "Ahhh!" the elderly woman screamed and backed up when she saw the trio.

"What did you do to Jay!" the woman demanded almost hysterically.

"We didn't do anything." Sokka retorted.

"What are you doing here! Leave! You have no business here!" The woman shrieked. Then, an infant, who didn't look more like three years old, walked out from behind a rather large bush.

"Oh Jay! Where have you been?" the woman asked much more collected than she had been a moment ago. She walked up to the boy and kneeled on the ground, though it was somewhat difficult for her, because of her old age.

"I don't wanna take a nap." the young child admitted, picking up the yellow ball.

"I don't want you to ever do that again, do you understand me?" the woman demanded in a strict tone "Now, go to your bed and take a nap." the boy nodded obediently, and quickly walked away.

Aang tried to get the woman's attention again. "Excuse me…" The woman looked at the kids. "My name is Aang and this is Sokka, and Katara," Aang pointed to his friends respectively. "We came here to find a leaf of a Bono-bono plant." The woman stared at something beyond Aang's head.

"Yes, we used to sell that here, but that was years and years ago. I'm not sure… there might be some around here." Aang looked around. There was a great deal of plants there.

"Erm… none of these plants are labeled." Aang said half asking. If they had to look through all these plants it would take all day- possibly even longer than that. The woman also looked at the plants.

"I don't know what else there is to do but look. And I have plenty of books on medications, plants and cures. You might find some information on the Bono-bono plant in some of them."

"I'll look through the books" Sokka offered, glad for any excuse that would get him off the hook from looking for a nonexistent plant.

"By the way you can call me Akhila," the woman smiled "Sorry about yelling at you before. It's just that no one really ever comes by here anymore. And with the war and everything, you have to be careful with who you trust."

"We understand." said Katara who was wondering why Akhila hadn't noticed Aang was the avatar, since, she assumed, the entire water nation knew he was there.

As they looked through the plants with the Bono-bono plant characteristics on their mind they conversed. Akhila explained that she was Jay's aunt. She told Katara and Aang how his parents died and now she was watching over him.

Sometimes they would find a plant they thought might be what they were looking for, but Akhila confirmed that it wasn't.

When Sokka found anything on the Bono-bono plant he told the group, though it wasn't much more than they already knew. Occasionally he would also find a sketch. Then, when Sokka was about ready to give up looking, a few hours later, he found a map between the pages of a book. He figured Aang and Katara would want to see it.

"Hey Katara, look at this." Sokka said as he walked over to her. Aang walked over to them as well, curious to see what Sokka had. Aang's eyes widened as he studied the piece of parchment.

"It's directions to a field of wildly grown Bono-bono plants." said Aang, slightly enthusiastic.

"Yeah, but we don't know how old this is. We don't know if they're still there." Katara voiced what everyone was thinking. "Let's finish looking through these plants and then we'll ask Akhila about it."

Aang didn't want to continue looking for the plant here, though he thought it was best for them to finish looking in case the plant was there.

"Where did she go anyway?" Sokka asked.

"She's taking care of Jay." Katara said, as she verified the plant nearest to her was not the Bono-bono plant.

After five minutes later Akhila came back to help them finish, and when they finally did, they were not surprised that they didn't find it.

"I remember this map." said Akhila after Sokka showed it to her. "I've been to this field once before. I went with a group of people in attempt to collect a few plants, because the ones we were growing died when the apothecary flooded."

"So do you think they're still there?" asked Aang.

"I really have no idea." said Akhila. "It was so long ago, but it's possible," she added, seeing the young travelers' faces become hopeless.

"Well? Are we gonna continue this wild goose chase or what?" asked Sokka.

"Not today. It's already dark," said Katara. "We should get back now."

"Does anyone want some dinner before you go? I just finished making it." Akhila asked.

"Yes, please!" exclaimed Sokka, who was nearly drooling, with his hands clutching his stomach.

He followed Akhila, with Aang, and Katara behind him. After eating, everyone said their goodbyes and Aang, Katara, and Sokka left to go rest in their tent and get ready for whatever

they decided to do the next day.

**I hope you liked it. Thanks to my readers, reviewers, and beta :) **


	5. The Bono bono field

Disclaimer: Don't own Avatar 

Chapter 5

Aang looked as far into the distance as he possibly could. He was trying to locate the field shown on the map, which, if the map could be believed wasn't that faraway. "What if it isn't there?" Sokka asked. "You know, hypothetically." He added when Katara glared at him.

"Are you trying to make Aang feel worse?" she reprimanded Sokka.

"No, I'm just trying to be the realistic one, as always." Sokka said coolly.

"It's okay, Katara. If we find it, that'll be great, but if we don't…" Aang began but couldn't finish.

"If we don't then this'll have all been for nothing." Sokka said in a low voice. He knew he was making Katara upset, but he couldn't help but say the first thing that came to his head. Katara turned to Aang.

"Just ignore him." Katara said calmly to Aang.

"He's just in a miserable mood because of…Yue." said Aang. Sokka lowered his head. "Cheer up, Sokka; I'm sure she must've felt honored to sacrifice herself." Aang said with a half-smile. Sokka remained wordless. Aang checked the map again and looked into the horizon. The sun had just begun to rise, and the sky displayed a beautiful array of pink and orange shades. A thick forest was growing on the ground below with no hopes of revealing a Bono-bono plant field any time soon. Katara silently took the map from Aang and studied it closely.

"Do you know where you're going?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're almost there, right, Appa?" Aang said patting his large flying friend's head. Appa responded with a low groan. Then, the group noticed a disruption of the pattern of the trees below- a lonely speck of brown emerging from the sea of green.

"What's that?" Katara said, barely audible. Upon closer examination, the group deduced that it was a group of tents up ahead.

"The field should be around here. I'm gonna land where those tents are." Aang announced. Sokka sighed. There was definitely no field there. There appeared to be around forty tents. It was a very large area with people putting meat, and other breakfast foods on grills. Aang watched as families slowly emerged from their tents and go about morning activities as if it was all one big camping vacation. The flying bison caught the eye of a man with a moustache, who'd just finished his breakfast.

"We're being attacked!" The group heard him yell in bewilderment. The people surrounding him immediately spotted what he observed. Several people began running in panic and scurrying about the grounds like mice, fearing whatever destruction they thought the flying monster would bring.

"They're scared of us!" Sokka said, a bit surprised.

"Guess they're not used to big fluffy bisons." Aang said, also slightly surprised. He'd rarely had any encounters with people who were scared of Appa, but this large assembly of people were actually yelling and running around. As they landed, several men, who appeared to be roughly thirty or forty years of age, ran up to them. They were all carrying spears and wearing armor. They were obviously there to protect the people and defend from any outside threat, though Aang was no threat.

"State your business!" The man closest to the front said sternly.

"I'm the Avatar. I'm here to-"

"If you're the Avatar then prove it. The Avatar is but a mere legend now." The same man demanded. He appeared to be the leader of the group. Aang stepped out of Appa's saddle, took a deep breath and released a powerful breath to the tree canopy above, ruffling all the leaves on the nearest trees.

"See? Airbending!" Sokka said, speaking to the man for the first time. A couple of the men gasped and the leader glared at Aang for a few seconds before talking again.

"Why did you come here?" The man's voice was slightly more relaxed now. At this point Katara and Sokka were also out of Appa's saddle, relieved to stretch their legs after a long flight.

"We got here following a map, and according to it, there should be a huge field of wild plants." Aang said as he held up the map in his hand. The leader continued staring at Aang with confusion.

"What kind of plants? As you can see there aren't any fields of any kind around here."

Aang looked around the grounds to confirm what the man just said, though he already knew there weren't any fields anywhere.

"Then where did they go?" Aang questioned, not really expecting this man to know. "Have you always been here, or was there something here before-"

"My people and I've been here for almost half a year now. The fire nation drove us out of our city- Obata. We are the Obata Clan."

Aang grinned, despite the lack of information about the Bono-bono plant he was receiving from the leader. "I've heard about legends about you guys. I never knew you existed though. The man returned Aang's grin.

"So neither of us believed each other's existence up until now." The leader said. Katara put her hand on Aang's shoulder.

"Why is the Obata Clan so famous?" she asked.

"We're not as well-known as we used to be a century ago. We were known to be the only people in the world who could bend minerals from the earth."

"Huh?" Sokka expressed his confusion.

"You know, like gold and copper." Aang explained.

"Yes, exactly. We branched off from earth benders, and it is the only bending discipline that has never used its bending for fighting."

"Can we see?" Sokka asked.

"There aren't any mineral benders left. We haven't really had any use for it, so it just sort of went away." The leader explained.

"My teacher's told me lots of stories about you guys." Aang said happily.

"And I'm trusting they were all good, yes?" the leader said. Aang nodded.

---

Chapter 5 end review plz!


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